Sales stats show the barefoot running fad is over, but minimalist shoes have changed the business for running shoe companies and consumers.

When the 2009 book Born to Run made a compelling case that long-distance running without shoes provided a long list of health benefits, new converts boosted sales of Vibram Classics.

The shoes weren’t designed for running specifically; with their thin soles and unique five-toe design, they were made to mimic the feeling of walking barefoot.

In April 2010, Vibram’s first running-specific shoe, the Bikila, hit the market, and the barefoot running craze spread, helping transform Vibram from a little-known Italian manufacturer of rubber boot soles to the company at the forefront of the fast-growing minimalist running category.

According to sports industry research firm Sports One Source, U.S. sales of minimalist running shoes reached $400 million in 2012, not including sales of the lightweight Nike Free line. That figure represented a 30 per cent increase from 2011, and reflected the entry of established brands like New Balance and Saucony into the minimalist market.

But now the hottest subcategory in athletic footwear is cooling off. Quickly.

In the first quarter of 2012, minimalist sales had doubled compared to the previous year, and in the second quarter they had increased 40 per cent, according to Sports One Source. But the final quarter of 2012 saw just a three per cent increase in sales, while the first quarter of 2013 saw sales decline 13 per cent.

Why the drop off?

Industry experts say it’s the natural market correction that follows any fad. As runners and scientists realized barefoot-style running wasn’t a cure-all, both consumers and manufacturers pulled back from the minimalist market.

Adidas has a line of barefoot-style trainers, but no running-specific shoes in the barefoot category.

“No one shoe or running style is great for everyone,” says Don O’Neil, Adidas Canada’s product manager for specialty footwear. “Everyone who has wanted to give (barefoot running) a shot has done that by now, and that’s where (sales) come back into more traditional categories.”

Born to Run chronicles author Chris McDougall’s time spent living with the Tarahumara, a reclusive tribe of indigenous Mexicans, who live simply and run obsessively, reeling off 160-kilometre runs in flimsy sandals.

As the book became a bestseller, McDougall’s philosophy on running footwear — less is better and barefoot is best — also gained popularity.

Vibram’s shoes appealed to barefoot running’s growing audience by offering shoes that looked like gloves and that minimized the distance between the runner’s foot and the ground.

“We were there, we had the perfect product and it worked out well,” says Vibram spokesperson P.J. Andronik. “We went after the running market really hard . . . and we continued to develop the line from there.”

While the Tarahumara run on dirt trails, urban runners use often roads, paved paths and sidewalks, surfaces that can damage the knees and ankles of runners in cushionless shoes.

Liberty Village resident Brennan Harvey says he buys Nike Frees because they’re lightweight but with enough cushioning to protect his joints.

“If could run on (soft surfaces) I’d probably be more receptive to (barefoot shoes),” he says. “A shoe should be fit to the runner, not to the idea.”

Still, Matt Powell of Sports One Source predicts minimalist shoes will occupy between three and four per cent of the running shoe market long-term.

“There’s the fad part of the business, and that’s over,” Powell said. “But the core minimal business will remain. There’s a small number of really committed runners who will stay running in the minimal style.”

Experts also say the boom and bust of the barefoot running fad will have a lasting effect on the athletic shoe industry.

O’Neil says consumers are now more educated than ever about what they want out of a running shoe.

For mainstream manufacturers, it means the streamlining of several types of shoes, from smaller, lighter runners to the slippers Nike and Adidas market to yoga practitioners.

And for Vibram, the decline of the barefoot trend means reaching out to a broader audience, including producing a line of walking shoes with a thicker than normal sole.

“We can capture (consumers) with that shoe then get them into the benefits of minimalist,” Andronik says. “It’s about thinking outside the box. How can we not think outside the box? We’re a shoe with toes.”

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